I Can't Live Without You
by Natushka-86
Summary: [Alex-Claire] Will a car accident take the life of our favorite McLeods Daughter?
1. darkness

TITLE: I Can't Live Without You  
  
RATING: G  
  
SUMMARY: My ending for My Noon, My Midnight. So of course it's gonna be a happy one!  
  
ARCHIVE: Anywhere, but please get permission first  
  
SPOILERS: Yes, if you haven't seen My Noon, My Midnight, then it could be very spoiler-ish  
  
CATEGORY: Alex/Claire  
  
DISCLAIMER: Not my characters, please don't sue, It's not worth it, trust me!  
  
FEEDBACK: Yes please, and lots of it :) You can review or email even, harms_marine@msn.com  
  
Author's note: Well, what's to say, I didn't like Claire dying! So here is my version, Hey and I might even make this into something more, so if I get lots of reviews, I'll add more! This fic is dedicated to any McLeod's Daughters Fan who cried in this episode!  
  
Ok so here it is, please review on your way out!  
  
---  
  
Did I tell you that I love you today?  
  
Have I looked into your eyes?  
  
Cause I've taken down that last remaining wall  
  
and showed myself to you.  
  
----  
  
Tess tried to hold back the sobs that wracked her body as she ran as fast as she could down the drive of Drovers Run. Tightly holding onto Bom, she ran to where she had seen everyone last, getting ready for the celebrations. Another wave of tears threatened to fall, the party, oh god Alex. Everything was going so well for both of them, she hadn't seen Claire this happy in a while. Holding onto those thoughts, Tess pushed her aching legs faster.  
  
As she rounded the corner, she could hear Alex laughing, and finally she could see him. She could see everyone, Meg was the first one to notice her.  
  
Meg's eyes went wide, "Tess, what happened!"  
  
Tess couldn't hold it in anymore, tears streamed down her face as she screamed. "Claire, got to help her. She's stuck.. The ute went over.. it went over.."  
  
Tess dropped to her knees, Alex was the first one next to her, the first words coming from his mouth, "Where?"  
  
The rest of the group hot on his heels, Meg took Charlotte from Tess, trying to calm the screaming baby.  
  
In an instant Alex was running for his ute, all plain rational thinking lost, his only concern to get to Claire. Tess Jumped in next to him, not saying a word. Alex took off, speeding down the drive. Nick and Jodi following closely behind, and Terry right after them.  
  
---  
  
Alex slammed on the brakes coming to a skidding stop, Alex jumped out running to the edge of the cliff, "Claire!" He screamed out. There was no response, Alex turned to see Nick right behind him swinging the ute around to run with the cliff face.  
  
Nick was out instantly tying a rope to the sports bar and Alex was right next to him grabbing the rope, then heading off straight down the face of the cliff.  
  
"Easy Alex!" Nick called after him. "Easy!"  
  
Alex paid no attention to him, after seeing the drover's run ute a smouldering mess he practically ran down the cliff face, he had to get to Claire. As he hit the bottom, he let the rope go, advancing carefully, trying to brace himself for whatever sight he may come face to face with. He could see her, her body was slumped, her face covered by her hair, he couldn't tell if she was alive.  
  
"Claire," he called out again, as he made his way to the car. When he was right beside her, he reach out with a shaky hand, pushing her head back gently and brushing her hair from her face. Claire's eyes were closed and she looked pale, as he touched her skin, Alex shivered, she was cold.  
  
"Oh Claire," He breathed.  
  
He looked down at her legs, and the steering column that had apparently been trapping her in the car, was now not a problem. Alex carefully slipped an arm around her waist and under her legs, and slowly pulled her out of the wreak. He took a couple of steps away from the car, and then dropped to his knees, holding Claire tightly. His body shaking slightly as he buried his head into her neck, tears threatening to fall.  
  
"Claire," he whispered, " I need you."  
  
---  
  
Claire tried to open her eyes but she couldn't. Her mind surrounded by a thick fog trapping her in a limbo of sorts. She so wanted to open her eyes, but she felt groggy, her will disappearing, but then she heard it, it was barely audible. But she heard it.  
  
"Claire"  
  
She willed herself to open he eyes, but she was just so sleepy. The fog taking over her, if she could just reach out. just brake through.  
  
Claire's eyes snapped open and Alex felt movement, as he heard a sharp intake of air. Alex looked up to find Claire's eyes opened, he felt the rise and fall of her chest again, she was alive. Claire closed her eyes, trying to clam her erratic breathing.  
  
"No, no, no, no. Don't close your eyes again Claire." Alex pleaded.  
  
Claire opened her eyes, smiling slightly, "Can't live without me Ryan."  
  
Alex did smile, remembering her saying that to him earlier, but then the smile faded. "No, I can't."  
  
He was so serious it almost broke her heart.  
  
"Good because I can't live without you." She whispered to him.  
  
Alex bent down and kissed her forehead, running a gentle hand through her hair. Alex was quite content to just sit there with Claire in his arms, any injuries she did have, she didn't say anything, and an ambulance would be hear soon. But for now he just wanted to hold her, it was unbelievable how close he was to losing her just minutes ago.  
  
---  
  
So what did you guys think? Please remember to review and I'll add some more! 


	2. Waiting

A/N: Ok I don't know exactly know how hospitals work, this knowledge comes from me own experience in a hospital, and the rest I tried to squeeze out of my ma, who is a nurse, but hasn't worked in this particular ward for ages. Then for the rest I tried to make up to the best I could, I hope it sounds realistic!  
  
Thanks to Jenna for listening to me talk about this chapter endlessly! I appreciate it! She brain stormed some ideas with me, and then demanded to be included somewhere as a character, lol, so jenna your lucky I'm nice.  
  
Anyways on with the chapter! And please remember that reviewing is a reading requirement!  
  
----  
  
Claire felt so out of it, she had no idea what time it was or how long she had been waiting here. She tried to roll over onto her side, but her body refused to move, so she then tried to move her legs into a bent position, her right began, but the left outright protested. Claire groaned in pain, and that's when she felt him next to her.  
  
"Claire, don't move."  
  
"Alex," she whispered, opening her eyes slightly.  
  
"I'm right here," he said, running his hand through her hair.  
  
Then she remembered that he had been with her the whole time, speaking soft words of reassurance to her. With that thought in her head, she closed her eyes again, and let the darkness take her.  
  
Alex watched the drugs take hold of her, as she drifted back into a slumber. She had been drifting in and out of sleep since the Ambo's had given her something for the pain. Claire had been complaining about pain in her right knee and leg since Alex pulled her out of the truck. She vocalized her opinion about being moved very loudly when the officers tried to pull her out of Alex's arms and onto a gurney. As soon as they had got her into the ambulance a drip had been attached to her arm. But now they had been travelling in the Ambulance for what seemed hours.  
  
Alex turned to the Ambulance officer next to him, "How long till we arrive?"  
  
The young officer replied, "Shouldn't be long now, I'd say about 10 minutes."  
  
Alex gave him a tight smile, and then turned his attention back to Claire.  
  
The ambo's had patched her up pretty well, she had a few scratches and a cut on her face that he could see, but the worst was the big gash on her right knee. The Ambulance officer had informed Alex that Claire would have to go straight into surgery to get it stitched back up when they arrived at the hospital. They had also put a neck brace around her neck, just as a precaution. Most of the colour had returned to her face, although she was still a little on the pale side, but she had just been in a car accident, Alex was sure he was a little pale himself, just from thinking about what could have been.  
  
"Mr Ryan?" A voice brought him out of his trance.  
  
"Hmm." His only reply, as he turned to look at the officer.  
  
"We're here."  
  
The doors on the back of the Ambulance flew opened and a couple of nurses and a doctor were waiting to unload the patient. Alex got out first, followed closely by the young officer. They unloaded Claire and began to wheel her into the entrance for patients that had been brought in by ambulance. Alex walked next to her, his hand squeezing hers gently.  
  
When they came to a stop inside the Casualty, he was asked to move away from Claire, so the nurses could x-ray her leg and prep her for surgery. With a tender kiss to the forehead, and another squeeze of her hand, Alex pulled away from her side. Watching the Nurse go to work on her.  
  
As soon as he had moved form her side, 2 nurses stood on each side of her, grabbing the sheets underneath Claire, they murmured a 1, 2, and 3 then lifted her up from the gurney and switched her to a bed next to it. The ambulance office's nodded a slight goodbye to a nurse, then wheeled the gurney away and disappeared beyond the Casualty doors.  
  
X-rays were first and Alex watched with interest as a nurse wheeled in a portable x-ray machine. They manoeuvred it around Claire, intending to take x-rays of her leg. The bandages were taking from her leg, and he heard a nurse reply that the bleeding had stopped. His heart did a little somersault in his chest, that was a good thing, the bleeding stopping, he watched the nurse throw the blood soaked bandages on a tray beside her and then continued working.  
  
When Alex glanced back up, a nurse was wheeling the X-ray machine away, apparently done with x-rays. That was when a young looking doctor walked towards him.  
  
"Mr Ryan, I'm Dr Jenna Williams, I'll be taking care of Claire," The young doctor extended her hand to Alex.  
  
Alex reached out and shook her hand, " Alex Ryan."  
  
"Well Mr Ryan, we'll be taking Claire down for Surgery now. The gash in her left knee is large and deep, muscle has to be reattached and damage assessed. We have just taken some x-rays of her right leg and knee; I'll look at them when I get in there. What we can get out of Claire is that there is a lot of pain in her left leg. Most likely looks like a brake in the Tibia and maybe the Fibula. We won't know for sure until I look at the x-rays."  
  
Alex nodded as he followed her speech.  
  
"If there is a brake there, it will require a full cast from mid-thigh to just under her toes, but with the gash on her knee, we can't do that because she will have a number of stitches there and the wound needs to heal. So if indeed broken we will put a half cast on, reaching from just under her knee to over her foot stopping before her toes. She will have to wear that until the wound on her knee heals, then a full cast will be applied."  
  
"She'll have to stay in the hospital," Alex summed up.  
  
"Yes," Dr Williams replied, "Just until the wound on her knee heals and we can apply the full cast, then she can go home. But that's if it is broken, so let's not jump to conclusions until then. Claire's a fighter Mr Ryan, she'll get through it fine."  
  
"Ok then," Alex frowned slightly, "You know Claire?"  
  
Dr Williams laughed, "Yes I do, last time she was in here, I had the pleasure of being her doctor. When I heard about the accident and found out it was Claire, I ask for her. I remember her being a very difficult patient, but we reached a middle ground, so I thought she might cooperate more if I was her doctor again."  
  
"Yeah well, that's my Claire for ya, so very stubborn." Alex grinned.  
  
"Yes, well we'll take her down for surgery now, she'll be back up here in about an hour." Dr Williams informed him.  
  
"Ok then, just gimme a sec, would ya." Alex asked and turned back to Claire, taking her hand in his.  
  
"Claire," Alex spoke softly, as her ran his thumb down the side of her face, "Claire, wake up, you gotta go down for some surgery."  
  
Slowly her eyes fluttered open, "Surgery," she muttered.  
  
"Yeah, Dr Williams is going to take you down,"  
  
"Jenna's here." Claire asked softly.  
  
"Yes I'm here Claire, nice to see you again, I wish it could be on better conditions." Dr Williams smiled at her.  
  
"Yeah." Claire sighed, "Alex."  
  
"I'll be here when you come back," Alex then bent down and kissed her forehead gently.  
  
Claire smiled up at him, "See you."  
  
Alex smiled back at her, "Not if I see you first."  
  
Then he let her hand go as they wheeled her away.  
  
----  
  
"So Claire," Dr Williams began as they wheeled her down a corridor, "You and Alex hey, I remember that I told you to take it easy last time and then a day later, you and him were both hospitalised."  
  
Claire laughed softly, " Yeah, me and Alex. He's my best mate and I love him."  
  
Dr Williams couldn't help but laugh; the painkillers had taken a hold of her. "I'm happy for you Claire, cause you'll need him to get through this."  
  
Dr Williams looked back down at Claire, but once again, she had drifted back off to sleep.  
  
---  
  
She still hadn't seen or heard any news about Claire, and it was starting to eat her away. Tess sat impatiently on the hospital bed, when the ambulance turned up, they had insisted on checking her out too. The cut on her head, the main cause for concern, apparently it needed stitches, so when they arrived at the hospital Tess got dragged away to get the cut fixed up, not knowing where Claire had gone. Not that she was by herself, Nick was seated in a chair next to the bed and Tess was sure Alex was with Claire, wild horses couldn't drag him away.  
  
"She's going to be ok, you know." Nick snapped Tess from her thoughts.  
  
She looked down at him, wondering how he knew what she was thinking, duh Tess, not like it isn't that easy to figure out, you and your sister were just in a car accident, she mentally slapped herself.  
  
She let out a shake breathe, "I know, but it's just. I haven't seen her yet and these doctors just take so long, I didn't particularly want to speak to one for a long time, but here we are, sitting in a hospital, waiting for news, again! I just wish."  
  
Nick cut her off by reaching over and taking her hand in his, "She's gonna be fine Tess."  
  
She covered her eyes with her other hand and rubbed then gently, avoiding hitting the newly stitched up cut. She was getting tired fast, with all that had happened today and the combination of drugs given to her for the pain the cut on her forehead was causing, tess would have been fast asleep if not for the worry for her sister.  
  
"Nick you didn't see it. It was horrible, I never want to go through that again, or ever feel like that again." Tears rolled down Tess's face unchecked.  
  
Nick moved from the chair and sat next to her on the bed, wrapping a comforting arm around her. "Tess she's alive, Claire won't give up without a fight now. I've known Claire for most of my live and she's to stubborn to give up, you know that."  
  
Tess gave a small laugh. "Yeah I do."  
  
There was a small knock on the door, and then Alex poked his head inside the door.  
  
"Alex!" Tess jumped up, throwing a million questions at him, "Where's Claire? How is she? Is she ok?"  
  
Alex smiled slightly, "she's fine Tess, and she's in surgery now."  
  
"Surgery!" Tess shriek, "Why is she having surgery?"  
  
"The gash in her knee, they need to reattach muscle to muscle or something like that. You know how doctors go on." He sighed, sinking into the chair that Nick occupied a few minutes again.  
  
"You ok Alex?" Nick looked at his brother.  
  
"Yeah, I will be when I know she's ok." Giving him a sincere look.  
  
---  
  
Alex sat waiting in the very spot Claire had been taken from him, but instead of holding her hand, he was nursing a cup of coffee instead. After leaving Nick and Tess he walked around the hospital, finding the cafeteria. Claire wasn't due back for another 10 minutes, so he grabbed a coffee and kept walking. He found his way back to the casualty area, and waited anxiously for Claire to return.  
  
He spotted Dr Williams at the end of the hallway, with a couple of nurses wheeling Claire back. Alex stood up and placed his coffee cup in the bin, he then wandered down the hallway and met them half way.  
  
"How'd it go?" He asked Dr Williams, while he reached down and took one of Claire's hands in his.  
  
" How bout we wait till we get Claire settled and she's more awake, she's still under the GA, but when that wears off we'll all talk then." Dr Williams replied.  
  
Alex merely nodded in response, his undivided attention going to the woman lying in the bed asleep next to him.  
  
They continued walking down the corridor, then turned right, leading them into the main ward, from there they walked a bit further down the corridor, then Dr Williams turned into a small room, the nurses following her turning the bed carefully as not to hit the doorframe.  
  
Dr Williams turned to Alex, "I'll come back when she's more awake, ok."  
  
" Righto, "Alex replied.  
  
Dr Williams turned on her heels and exited the room, leaving the couple alone in the eerie silence  
  
---  
  
ok soo what did you guys think? Please review on your way out, because I am fuelled by reviews!! 


End file.
